Well, ok, only the insides of the front two. See, those are the two the dogs like to peer out of the most. I hadn’t realized how bad the nose prints had gotten till I was trying to take pictures out them yesterday, and then trying to find a clean spot to photograph out of was quite interesting. I had to scrub to get the worst spots off. How in heck do these two plaster so much dirt on with their noses??
Apollo
Homemade coyote rollers
For anyone who doesn’t know what coyote rollers are here is their website, but its basically a rolling pin made out of metal tubing attached to the top of the fence. When the dog (or predator) hits the top of the fence the roller dumps them back on their butt.
Very cool idea, but not cheap. We’ve been looking at ways to top our chainlink fence since Arty has already proved his climbing ability (and for that matter Apollo could go over the fence we have if it ever occurred to him to try). Someone pointed out this page to me. If you scroll about halfway down they describe a homemade “rolling pin” fence topper. Now I just have to figure out the best way to attach it to a heavy duty chainlink fence!
Edit 9/19/2014: Apparently quite a few people are hitting here, looking at the DIY instructions, and then going onto the Coyote Roller official site and buying. Because of the volume of people doing so Roll Guard (who owns Coyote Roller) has offered me a spot in their affiliate program, and after some thought I’ve accepted. What that means for you: if you click through to the Coyote Roller home page via the above links and proceed to buy from them I’ll potentially earn something off of that sale. I’ll admit that the possibility of earning enough to cover the blog costs was to tempting not to try it. On the other hand, if you experience a negative experience by doing so, something that appears to be related to the click through, please let me know…..
5/27/18: Not quite sure what happened, as I received no emails, but the original coyote rollers site appears to be down and has been for a while. There are other places to get them from if you do an internet search for coyote rollers. I have removed the broken links from this page.
AKC customer service fail
This post is actually unrelated to the previous post on the Tibetan Mastiff breed standard changes. Other than the fact that it involves Apollo anyway.
Back when we got Apollo, and then his paperwork, included in the paperwork from the AKC was paperwork to set him up with the AKC Companion Animal Rescue. Basically its supposed to be a backup to microchips or tags. We almost didn’t bother since he IS microchipped and tagged, but it was only $20, and no renewal fee, so might as well. Got the paperwork back stating he’d been enrolled with the CAR, and in the envelope was a tag to add to his collar. There was something in the letter about setting up online access so you can make changes if you need to, but right then I didn’t feel like it so the letter got tossed in the “we might need it later so at some point I need to sort this and file it” box.
Yesterday I was sorting the paperwork in that box in preparation of filing it, so that if we needed any of it for taxes it would be accessible, and ran across the letter from the CAR. Was reminded of the online access thing, and sat down to set it up before I forgot again. Oops, there’s supposed to be a code in the letter for setting up the access, and gee, no code. Sigh. By this time its 10pm EST, so I emailed the email listed on the letter rather than tried to call:
I am attempting to set up online access for my dog, but the letter I recieved did not contain an enrollment key.
Apollo, Tibetan Mastiff, owned by Ruth *****
id# XXXXXX
Got an email back today:
Thank you for contacting AKC Companion Animal Recovery.
We received your email to update your pet’s record; however, your pet is not enrolled in our recovery service. You can enroll your pet with our service at www.akccar.org.
Note: AKC CAR is proud to offer access to Pet Poison Helpline. For a one-time fee you can gain access to immediate treatment advice from animal experts around the clock. For more information, call AKC CAR at 1-800-252-7894 or visit http://www.akccar.org.
Please be sure to include this email if a response is necessary.
Thank You,
AKC Companion Animal Recovery
So…..yah, I emailed back:
So I sent you paperwork, and a check, which you cashed. You sent me a letter stating he was enrolled, and a tag to add to his collar. And yet you didn’t really enroll him in the program?? You ARE sending me a refund….RIGHT?
Mildly pissed….
Ok, really pissed, and I’m actually kinda serious about the refund, do I really want these people “helping” rescue my dog??
Tibetan Mastiff vs Boxer
Someone asked me today for a comparison of the Tibetan Mastiff head vs the Boxer head, since I mentioned it in my post on Tibetan Mastiff Breed Standards yesterday.
So, go HERE, for an explanation and photos of a how a Boxer’s head is supposed to look, they even have a skull for you to look at.
After you’ve done that, come back here and take a look at this photo of Apollo in profile.
Picture Apollo with a nose about half the length of the one he currently has. Thats what they’re trying to do to the breed.
(note: no disrespect meant to folks who have Boxers, they’re lovely dogs, but if I wanted a Boxer I’d have gotten a Boxer, one of the things that attracted me to the Tibetan Mastiff breed was the comfortable length on the muzzle)
Breeder or Rescue
Labrat just did an awesome post on how to pick a breeder should you decide you want a purebred pup. She did a better job than I did a while back so go read. The comments kinda devolved into a discussion of rescue vs breeder though. And in general I’d agree, going through a rescue to get your new pet is an awesome idea.
However there are some issues. Some rescues are great, some are less than forth-coming about the dogs in question, and then there’s the growing trend to deny the adoption due to some random factor in the household. We ran into this when we were looking to get a 2nd dog. Apollo’s intact, and will be till he’s at least two. We were looking for a young (1 to 3yr old) spayed female. Several places wouldn’t even talk to me after they discovered he was intact. Period. No discussion of the whys, or anything. There were a couple who didn’t QUITE shut up at that news, but the fact that our entire property isn’t fenced was the excuse they used (we have a fenced area, but not the whole two acres). I’ve had other people tell me the same thing, very random things used to disqualify the family from getting a pet. Interestingly enough I ran across an article today on the same subject. At least none of the rescue’s I talked to asked how many steps to the front door we had…..
Edited: we did finally find two that were willing to work with us, and in the end ended up with a puppy from neither since by the time I found them we’d already started the process with the Singer group.
Odds and ends
If you know someone in NC, or who wants to move to NC, pass along this link. No official listing yet, but 10 acres isn’t a bad space.
and a “dead” puppy:
I’m stuck
Theres a little puppy snoring on my lap, and a big puppy snoring on my feet. I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to move…..
Musher’s Secret works
Wow, I’m impressed with the stuff. Works like a charm. I mean, sure, the reviews were great, which was why I bought it in the first place, but wow. Totally solved the snowball problem, and a day later its still working. Not sure how often I’ll have to re-apply, that’ll be trial and error, but cool!
Poor Apollo’s having some issues with the snow
Specifically snowballs between his toes. We didn’t have this problem last year, so I’m wondering if its a side affect of how wet its been. Reguardless its affecting his enjoyment of the snow. I had picked up a jar of Mushers Secret last year and never used it, but I dug it out this morning and applied a coat to his paws. He wasn’t apprecietive, but we’ll see if it helps. The snowballs on his feet definetly make him uncomfortable, so if this doesn’t help I might have to see if I can find booties in his size.
Fruit leather, and how I discovered Arty likes cranberries and has a death wish
So, the cranberry fruit leather turned out ok, I got one tray to thin, and the other probably would have been perfect, except the thin tray was on top and so I thought I’d over cooked the whole thing, and ended up undercooking the 2nd tray. Oh well, just means one set’s a bit chewy and the other a bit to soft.
Arty appreciated the cranberry bits that hit the floor though. Apollo wouldn’t touch them, but Arty loved them.
And Arty has discovered that if he sneaks up behind Apollo, and ever so carefully touches his nose to Apollo’s balls and then runs for cover Apollo will chase him with all fervor and energy….
(Arty just weighed in at 8.7lbs, Apollo weighed in (last month) at 93lbs)